Massachusetts House Passes Bill to Overhaul Cannabis Regulatory Agency, Increase License Caps and Purchase Limits

The Massachusetts House last week passed a bill that would raise the caps
on the number of retail cannabis licenses an individual or entity can hold,
increase daily purchase limits from 1 ounce of flower to 2 ounces, and
regulate intoxicating beverages and consumable derived from hemp, WGBH
reports. The bill would also overhaul how members of the state Cannabis
Control Commission (CCC) are selected, taking the governor alone with
appointing a full-time chair and two part time associate commissioners.

Under current law, passed in 2017, the CCC is comprised of five members who
members are appointed by the treasurer, attorney general, and governor,
with the treasurer selecting the chair.

In an interview with WGBH, state Rep. Daniel Donahue (D), House chair of
the Cannabis Policy Committee, said the changes “still protect the
commissioners’ independence in policymaking and in investigations and
adjudications of violations.”

“The cannabis industry, with its complexities and challenges, requires a
nimble and efficient regulator.” — Donahue to WGBH

The proposal comes about a year after state Inspector General Jeffrey
Shapiro asked lawmakers to take charge of a “rudderless agency.” During a hearing
with lawmakers last July, Shapiro described the CCC as a “train wreck” and
the “Wild West” and suggested lawmakers appoint a receiver to oversee the
agency. In 2023, state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg suspended then-chair
Shannon O’Brien and ultimately removed her from the role. O’Brien is
currently challenging the firing in court.

In a statement, Shanel Lindsay, co-founder of advocacy group Equitable
Opportunities Now, raised concerns with the proposed CCC changes and argued
that raising the cap on licenses could make way for large, multi-state
operators to move in at the expense of small, local businesses, describing
the move as “a gift to corporate cannabis and a death sentence for local
and social equity businesses.”

How is someone with one, two, or three stores supposed to compete with
someone buying for six or more stores?” Lindsay said in the statement. “It
will undermine everything Massachusetts has worked so hard to achieve in
building the most equitable cannabis industry in the country.”

The bill moves next to the state Senate.